๋࣭⭑Tinted Tulips ๋࣭⭑ [♡WMMAP x OC♡]

🌺 Accommodation 🌺

"I am here, Father."

These words from this man were enough to make her realise that he was indeed Alaric Elzif. So she wasted no time in standing up and bowing.

"Oh, my dear sister. I am over the moon now that you're finally awake. I am happy as a lark and as a clam. I am overjoyed."

The tall man said this somewhat...impassively. He approached her, with an expression on his face that was certainly unreadable.

"But, my feelings of joy were soon marred by the news of your amnesia. Is that true, my sister? That you don't remember anything?"

He reached out his hands to touch her cheek. She could feel the sweat beads form on her forehead. Something about this man's expression...was expression-less.

"That's true, Alaric. Your sister has unfortunately, lost all her memories. As much as it pains to me see this, it's clearly visible."

The man momentarily gazed at his father when he spoke but then soon turned his gaze back to her. He rubbed his thumb over his sister's cheek one last time before letting go.

"Unfortunate, indeed. Now we've no idea who dared to do that callous act to my dear sister! Asteria, do you have no memory of that night, at all?"

She squeezes her arms together nervously, before shaking her head.

"I see. But one thing about you hasn't changed. You didn't talk much then and you also don't talk much now."

"Now, come on. Give her time to get used to this all. She...went through a lot. A lot more than any of us can imagine."

Asteria's father speaks in a tone which clearly tells that he was pitying his own daughter.

"You're right, Father. I am just angry that we can't catch that bastard anymore."

"My star? Could you please give us a moment? I have to discuss something with your brother."

The girl slowly got up and left the room with her gaze lowered. And as soon as she closes the door behind her back, she feels her heartbeat for the very first time in the past 5 minutes. She slides and drops to the floor. She didn't knew that someone other than "that man" could make her sweat like that.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊ ♪ ✧
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ        𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ  ㅤ────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──
  

"What is it that you wanted to talk about, Father?"

"Alaric. You know that your sister is a born genius, right?"

This sentence made the young man glance at his father. And it was obvious to him, why he was bringing this up.

"That's right. Asteria is well-versed in English, Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and many other languages."

Alaric says, to which his father shakes his head.

"I am not talking about that intelligence of hers. Sure, she is great academically. But, she is capable of handling an entire empire all by herself. She is...a diplomatic individual."

"I couldn't agree more, Father. But, I would use the word 'was' instead of 'is'. She has forgotten all knowledge she possessed as well, I assume?"

"That's true, Alaric. But, her therapist said that she can gain her memories back. And, Asteria is Asteria afterall. So, I expect her to regain her memory sooner than planned."

His father takes a seat on the chair where Asteria was seated just few minutes ago.

"And...Since she has lost all her memories, she doesn't remember about my disease as well. And I have told everyone to not tell Asteria about that."

"Father! You know that she would be mad, right? Hiding your condition like that from her when you're...dying as we talk...is..."

He feels his voice crack up in the middle of his speech.

"Oh, my son. I am going to die either way. But I would prefer to have Asteria not know my condition. Maybe Asteria losing her memories was a gift from heavens. So that I can live my last days with my precious daughter just like i am supposed to. Before the incident, when Asteria heard about my disease, she wasn't herself anymore. So, I wished that she'd just forget about my condition. Now that she has finally forgotten about my condition, I am happier than ever to see her like that. And I don't want to see her lose herself again. Just let me be..."

"But, Father...what about the duchy?"

As soon as the father hears his son ask about their land, he wipes his tears and puts his glasses back on.

"O yes. My bad. I got carried away. About the duchy... To be honest, before Asteria's incident, I wanted to give her the duchy and now..."

"And now what, Father?"

"And now...my choice is still Asteria."

Alaric stood there. Dumbstruck. Was his father serious right now!? How could he hand over all the property to someone who has lost all their memories? To a person who can barely meet her brother's eyes. To a person who got attacked so easily. To a person who can't even remember who attacked them. Just...how could he?

"I see, Father. I believe that you make the decisions which you never regret. So, Good luck. I will be taking my leave now."

Alaric bowed politely infront of his father, hiding his anger and disappointment by pasting a polite smile on his thin lips.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊ ♪ ✧
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ        𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ  ㅤ────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──
   

The blue haired girl was in the tulip garden with her lady-in-waiting. Admiring the tulips, which appeared colourless. But, soon she heard a bang on the back door and saw the young man come out. This time, the expression on his face was readable. He was definitely fuming with anger. As soon as their eyes meet, the girl could feel chills running down her spine. But, he just glares at her before storming off. The girl couldn't help but wonder what they talked about. She first glances at the Duke's window and then at Alaric before sighing and looking down.

"Yeah so, where were we? Yes, did I plant these?"

She points out to some flowers and raises her eyebrows expecting a response.

"Indeed, my lady. You were very...passionate about flowers. You had some in your room. You wouldn't even sleep before spraying the lavender flower oil on your pillow cover!"

"Really? Then we should continue doing that. Who knows, I might remember something."

She says with a gentle smile and then continues trailing swiftly over the flower beds.